Stack shaper



F. W. HORSTKOTTE STACK SHAPER 3 Sheets-Shet 1 Filed Aug. 2. 1926 April17, 1928. 1,666,451

' F. W. HORSTKOTTE STACK SHAPEQR Filed Aug. 2. 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 2April '17, 1928. 1,666,451

F. W. HORSTKOTTE STACK SHAPER Filed Aug. 2. 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 3Patented Apr. 17, 1928.

- UNITED STATES FREDERICK. W. HORSTKOTTE OF PORTLAND, OREGON.

STACK SHAPER.

Application filed August 2, 1926. Serial No. 126,613.

My present invention relates to an improved stack shaper for use inpiling'and arranging lumber and similar material, in order that thelumber of the stack may be treated in a drying kiln, or readily seasonedin other suitable manner by the circulation of air currents.

In the process of-drying or seasoning stacked or piled lumber, as in akiln, according to usual practice,,spaces are provided in the stackorpile to permit circulation of:

stack, and for this purposeis used as a guide in fashioning twolongitudinally extending sections of the stack with the flue'betweenthem, the flue preferably having a wide bot tom, mutually inclinedwalls, and a closed En the utilization of the stack shaper of myinvention, the shaper is carried upon a vertically movable platformwhich is elevated to initial position for the first layer or course oflumber in the formation of the stack. and then the elevated platform isintermittently lowered as the height of the stack increases, the coursesof lumber being manually laid at the same level or altitude, and ofcourse always on the top of the stack.

The base or wide lower end of the flue is formed on the elevatedplatform by the first layer of boards or lumber that eventually becomesthe bottoms of the two stack sections, and the last or toplayer ofboards forms a closure for the narrow top portion of the flue as well asthe top layer of the completed stack. 7

The shaper includes a pair of spaced shaper frames, (or a greater numbermay be used if desired) located"at predetermined distances apartdepending upon the length of the lumber, and each frame carries a pairof mutually inclined guide bars that, are relatively movable. Means areprovided for spacing apart the upper ends of the mutually inclined guidebars to properly locate the bottom boards of the two sections of thestack in the formation of the flue, and means are provided on the framesfor automatically and gradually bringing together opposed bars of thepairs as the elevated platform descends and the height of the stackincreases, until the tops of the bars meet at the top of the stack.

The invention consists in certain novel combinations and arrangementsofparts as will hereinafter be more fully describedand claimed. In theaccompanying drawingsI have illustrated one complete example of thephysical embodiment of my invention in combination with a verticallymovable platform and truck of a lumber piling appliance wherein theparts are combined and arranged according to one mode I have thus fardevised for the practical application of the principles of my invention.

Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a stacking machine with a completedstack anda flue shaped therein according to my invention. V

Figure 2 is an enlarged, detail verticalsectional view of one of thestack shaper frames showing the lower ends of a pair of mutuallyinclined guide bars and connections. Figure 3 1s a horizontal sectionalview at line 3 3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail View partly in section showing the lowerend of one of the guide bars and its cable support.

Figure 5 is a compactly arranged perspective view, partly broken awayfor convenience of illustration showing the operating means for theguide bars.

In Figure 1 which shows the general assembly and arrangement of parts,the flue F is fashioned between the two longitudinally extendingsections S and S of the stack of lumber, the latter being illustrated asa completed stack, but with parts omitted for con venience ofillustration.

The stack is erected within a rectangular main frame comprising cornerposts 1and2,

and crossbeams 3 at the top, and the frame layer of the stack. Theoourses'or layers of boards are manually laid by workmen standing at thetop of the main frame, always at the same level, and the platform andstack are lowered intermittently as the height of the stack increases,until the stack is con1- pleted, at which time the platform and stackappear in the position of Figure 1.

The vertically movable platform 4 is suspended from the upper portion ofthe fixed main frame by suspending cables 5 and 5 that pass around theupper guide pulleys (3, 6 and lower pulley 6, the former on the mainframe and the latter on the platform, and from the top portion of themain frame the cables pass downwardly to and around drums 7 and 7 on theshaft 8, journaled in bearings 8 below the platform. The drum shaft isprovided with a gear wheel 9 for thetransmission of power applied from asuitable source in winding the drums to elevate the platform, andcontrol mechanism is employed for releasing the cables to interi theshaper-frame below the platform.

mittently permit lowering of the, elevated platform as the height of thestack increases. On its upper surface the platform is provided withtrack rails as 10 for supporting a truck 11 having Wheels 12. Theemptytruck is run onto the platform-rails, the platform and truck areelevated, the stackerectcd on the truck, and when the stack is completedand the loaded truck has descended with the platform to position ofFigure 1, the truck with its load or stack is rolled off the platform,and conveyed to the kiln or other destination.

The number of units of the stack shaper employed depends upon the lengthof the lumber to be stacked. In this exemplification of the invention Ihave illustrated two units A and B, spaced a suitable distance apart andcarried by the'vertically movable platform 4-. As the units are ofsubstantial-' ly the same construction, a description of one Wlllsuflice for both.

Each un1t includes a shaper frame of rectangular shape and supported inupright po-' sition on the platform 4-, transversely of the stack, andlocated at the longitudinal center of the platform, truck, and mainframe, below the truck and with a major portion of The shaper-frame ismade up of a pair of parallel, spaced angle irons 13 and 14, (Figs. 1and 2) bolted to the top of the platform 4, and the ends of the frameare formed by spac'ed,'upright channel plates 15 and 16,"at the lowerends of which are secured the bottom bars 17 and 18 parallel with theupper bars or plates and also formed of angle irons. These parts arebolted or riveted to gether to form a rigid structure, and this rigidstructure or frame is rigidly bolted or otherwise secured to theplatform 1.

. Inthe two units A and B and carried by the shaper frames are arrangedpairs of mutually inclined, upright bars designated 19 -and 20, and 21,22, each pair of bars being relatively movable with relation to its shapand 25 and 26 at the lower end of the frame. The rollers are disposed invertical planes and are journaled on horizontal shafts: 27 havingbearings in the frame. It Will be noted in Figure 2 that the pairs oflower guide rollers are spaced wider apart than the pairsof upper guiderollers, thus givingto the complementary guide bars a mutualinclination, and this arrangement of the rollers also provided for adrawing-together movement of the mutually inclined bars as the platformdescends while the bars remain at a stationary height in the stack.

The mutually inclined guide bars slant toward each other at all times,but their upper complementary ends are initially spaced apart as guidesforthe first layers of the stack sections, and thereafter are graduallyand automatically brought together by action of the frictional rollersas the latter travel down the opposite sides of the bars, until theupper ends of the bars are brought together-at the topof the completedstack, as indicated in Figure 1.

The pairs of bars 19'2O and'2122 are suspended on cables 28 and 29 and28' and V 29 respectively, each cable being anchored as at 30 to thelower ends'of a beam, and the guide rollers 26 and 26 at the bottom ofthe frame are fashioned with central, annular grooves 31 countersunk inthe grooved peripheries of the rollers, to accommodate the cables asthey pass up alongside the in ner' faces of the bars, between the barsand the rollers. V

' As best seen in Figure 2 the cables pass up and over guide pulleys 32and 33 journaled on the shaper frame, and then pass out of the framethrough a slotas15 in the end plate 15, to a pair of drums 34c and 35 onthe drum shaft 36, which latter shaft is pro .vided with journalbearings 36 located at man standing at the top of the main frame of thestacking machine, through the manipulation of a hand wheel on thevertical control shaft 39, journaled in a bottom bearing 40 on the mainframe. The hand wheel 41 is readily accessible at all times to theworkman, and a worm screw is provided on the shaft for co-action with aworm wheel 43 on the drum shaft 36.

The platform, truck with its stack, and shaper frames are graduallylowered as the height of the stack increases, but the elevated guidebars remain stationary as to the vertical movement of these parts, asthe worm and gear wheel remain at all times in mesh. 7

lVhen the empty truck is elevated with the platform and shaper frames,the guide bars are also elevated, but as their upper ends attain aheight located at a point slightly above the pairs of rollers 2324 and232 l, it will be apparent that their upper ends are spaced apart asindicated at the broken ends in Figure 2. Then as the rollers ride downalongside the bars, by their frictional engagement therewith, therollers draw the bars, as 19 and 20, together to the posit-ion indicatedin Figure 1.

The layers of lumber are laid on the two stack sections S and S theinner edges of the adjoining inner boards being placed in contact withthe complementary pairs of guide bars. and then each layer or course iscompleted by successively laying the boards outwardly from the center ofthe stack and its flue.

After the stack has been completed as in Figure 1, the elevated set ofguide bars is lowered, by manipulation of the hand wheel 41, into thepit P, the upper ends of the bars being lowered beneath the truck 11,and the loaded truck is then run off the platform rails and replacedwith an empty truck. The platform, shaper frames and empty truck areagain elevated, as are also the guide bars, and another stack iserected.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a stack shaper the combination with a main frame, a verticallymovable platform, and supporting means whereby the platform maysuccessively be suspended at lower levels, of a pair of upright guidebars carried by the platform, and means on the main frame for retainingthe guide bars in elevated position as the platform descends.

2. In a stack shaper the combination with a main frame, a verticallymovable platform, and supporting means whereby the platform maysuccessively be lowered to different levels as the height of the stackincreases, of a. pair of relatively movable, spaced guide bars, meansfor retaining the guide bars in elevated position as the platformdescends,

and means for relatively moving the guide bars with the descent of theplatform.

3. 'In a stack shaper the combination with a main frame, a verticallymovable platform, and supporting means whereby the latform maysuccessively be suspended at ower levels, of a pair of upright, mutuallyinclined guide bars, means for retaining the guide bars in elevatedposition, and means carried by the platform'for drawing together themutually inclined guide bars as the platform descends.

4. In a stack shaper, the combination with a main frame, a verticallymovable platform and a shaper frame thereon, of a pair of spaced,mutually inclined guide bars carried by the shaper frame, meanssupported from the main frame for retaining the guide bars in elevatedposition, and means on the shaper frame for drawing together the guidebars as the platform descends.

5. In a stack shaper, the combination, with a main frame, an elevatedplatform and means for supporting said platform at successively lowerlevels, of spaced shaper frames carried by the platform, pairs ofspaced. relatively movable mutually inclined guide bars carried by theshaper frames,

means on the main frame for retaining said guide bars in elevatedposition as the platform descends, and means on the shaper frames fordrawing together the bars of each pair actuated by the descendingmovement of the platform; v

6. In a stack shaper, the combination with a main frame, an elevatedplatform and means for supporting said platform at successively lowerlevels, of a shaper frame rigid with the platform, guide bars carried bythe shaper frame, and means for elevating the guide bars and retainingthe latter in elevated position as the platform descends.

7. In a stack shaper, the combination with a. main frame, an elevatedplatform and means for supporting the platform at successively lowerlevels, of a shaper frame rigid with the platform, mutually inclinedguide bars carried by the shaper frame, winding mechanism on the mainframe and cables from said mechanism to the guide bars for elevating theguide bars and retaining them in elevated position as the platformdescends, and means for drawing together the bars as the platformdescends. 8. In a stack shaper, the combination with a main frame, anelevated platform and a' shaper frame carried thereby, of a pair ofspaced mutually inclined guide bars and guide rollers therefor on theshaper frame, a winding mechanism on the main frame and cables therefromto the bars whereby the latter are retained in elevated position as theplatform descends.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

F. W. HoRsT'KoTTn.

